ESSEC Business School
speciality: Project Management
What is a Project Management degree?
A Project Management degree teaches students about the main stages of conducting a project and develops their technical and soft skills in order to prepare them to manage a project team, supervise projects and ensure they are completed successfully. Institutions that offer Project Management courses make sure that students have a perfect understanding of the importance of managing quality, setting goals, scheduling and coordinating tasks, team-working and assessing potential investment returns. Therefore, they help students in gaining budgeting, planning, negotiation, communication and conflict resolution skills through their Project Management programs. Students also learn how to control costs, manage all possible risks that might occur as a result of conducting a particular project, deal with contracts and manage/stimulate performance. Throughout a Project Management course, students are familiarized with different strategies that aid the successful management and completion of projects. This degree develops students’ ability to handle and resolve other issues that occur over the course of a project as well.
Benefits of a Project Management degree
Project Management courses develop a wide variety of skills, which students could use in different industries and occupations. The possession of multiple professional skills allows them to easily switch careers if they want to pursue opportunities outside the project management field. For example, students studying project management usually acquire very good organizational skills, such as coordinating activities and managing resources, which can be transferred to other occupations easily.
Acquiring the skills that a Project Management degree develops would allow students to take advantage of the increasing need for project managers in the contemporary business world. Project Management is a very competitive field and any additional qualifications, such as a degree or a certificate, increase an individual’s chances of securing a well-paid position as a project manager.
Apart from the promising career prospects, Project Management degrees could offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to academics. There are numerous online opportunities, offered by different Higher Education Institutions globally, to study Project Management. Online courses are suitable for individuals who have already started their professional careers and are unable to dedicate their time and effort to full-time studies. Online courses usually offer the same quality as on-campus courses and provide students with access to online resources to support their studies. However, what sets them apart from regular Project Management courses is the flexibility that students are provided with, which allows them to do the required work whenever and wherever they like.
Project management degree Structure
Project Management is predominantly offered as a Master’s or a PhD degree course and is not so popular at Bachelor’s level.
The duration of a Project Management degree varies depending on the country, mode of study (full-time or part-time) and degree level. Below are listed the approximate durations of Project Management degrees at some of the most popular Higher Education locations:
- Project Management degrees’ duration in the UK:
- Bachelor’s in Project Management: 3 years (extends to 4 years if students choose a sandwich course, which offers them the opportunity to take a year-long placement between their second and third year)
- Master’s in Project Management: 1-2 years
- PhD in Project Management: 3-6 years
- Project Management degrees’ duration in the Netherlands:
- Bachelor’s in Project Management: about 4 years
- Master’s in Project Management: 1-2 years
- PhD in Project Management: 4 years
- Project Management degrees’ duration in Germany:
- Bachelor’s in Project Management: 3-4 years
- Master’s in Project Management: 1-2 years
- PhD in Project Management: 3-4 years
- Project Management degrees’ duration in France:
- Bachelor’s in Project Management: 3 years
- Master’s in Project Management: 1-2 years
- PhD in Project Management: 3-6 years
- Project Management degrees’ duration in the US:
- Bachelor’s in Project Management: 4 years
- Master’s in Project Management: 2 years
- PhD in Project Management: 2-3 years (could take longer).
